The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Thursday, January 31, 2002 EDITORIALS Lake-Lehman board, public deserve better information At least two Lake-Lehman school directors are questioning the reliability of the district's financial reporting, apparently with good reason. Angelo DeCesaris, who is a certified public accountant, and Lois Kopcha want to know why annual fi- nancial estimates vary by as much as $2 million, depending on the date they are prepared. Kopcha offers as examples projected budget surpluses for the end of the 2000 and 2001 fiscal years that shrank dramatically between December and June, then seemed to reappear. DeCesaris points to the cur- rent year’s budget, which projected a deficit of about $450,000, but after six months shows a surplus of $500,000, with no adequate explanation of how that came about has been offered. As anyone in business knows, budget fluctuations are a fact of life, although one would expect a school budget to be ‘more predictable than that of a private business. Of greater concern, the district's business manager sometimes has not been present at meetings when questions come up, and has been less than cooperative when asked by board members and the public for details or interpretation. : Given that Lake-Lehman is in the midst of a large and ex- pensive renovation project, it’s important that directors are ‘given accurate, reliable information on which to base deci- sions that will have a long-term effect on taxpayers. It is their job to look out for varied interests, but they can’t do their best work if they don’t have complete, trustworthy in- formation. While some board members have in the past questioned where the money has been going, there's no reason to sus- pect anything improper is taking place. That doesn’t lessen the frustration of both the board and the public over finan- cial information that is either unavailable or unexplained. Publisher’s Notebook ori. Oh, the embarrassment of it. I can hardly bring the words to my lips: We own a Mercury Villager. That's right, we're one “of the apparently teeny minority who purchased what “seemed like a perfectly good minivan, only to learn a few _. years later that even the people who sold it to us think it's a loser. That must be the reason this model is being discontin- ued by its manufacturer after less than a decade of life. For- tunately, we've had ours for most of that decade, so the stain of unpopularity won't take much off the value, which is neg- ligible at this point anyway. ; Our Villager has been a pretty good car, or so we thought. ge I's usually reliable, except when we inadvertently leave the headlights on overnight, and we know the power door locks operate flawlessly, given the number of times we've called AAA after leaving the keys inside at the mall. So it comes as a shock that our little mom van will join the likes of DeSoto, Studebaker and - egads! - Edsel in the Automotive Hall of Shame. We're trying to keep our spirits up, though, reminding our- selves that popularity isn’t important, just as we tell the kids. Besides, our tan van is getting a little long in the tooth, so it’s time to look for a replacement. I was thinking maybe of an Oldsmobile. It seems the lessons of the dot.com crash, Enron and two years of stock market declines may not have taken hold with publishers of magazines that offer financial advice to the teeming masses. A recent issue of a major publication ad- vised readers on how to put their retirement plans back on track. Mixed in with advice on stocks and bonds was the suggestion that future retirees assume a 10 percent annual & return on their investments over the next several years. © While that may be the historical average for stocks over many decades, it’s awfully ambitious for a retirement portfo- “lio in 2002. Ten percent sounds so much better than the 1 percent or less many banks are paying on savings accounts [1 these days; could it be the magazines don’t want to disap- [& point their advertisers - largely mutual funds - by suggesting “I more reasonable expectations? Ha : I a “Opinions invited 5; The Dallas Post attempts to publish opinions on a variety of top- ics in many forms. = Letters to the editor are welcome and will be published, subject to '= the following guidelines: = Letters should not exceed 500 words. 7, No writer may have more than one letter published during a 30- 5 day period, except as a reply to another letter. =4 Letters must be signed and include the writer's home town and =a telephone number for verification. + * Names will be withheld only if there exists a clear threat to the Ile writer. * The Post retains the right to accept or reject any letter, and to ‘J edit letters for grammar and spelling, as well as to eliminate any li- “bel, slander or objectionable wording. a The Dallas Post TIMES*LEADER unity Newspaper Group 1) El P.O. BOX 366, DALLAGIPA 18612 * 570-675-5211 [ei Ronald Bartizek GENERAL MANAGER William Dunn Jr. ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC. Darlene Sorber OFFICE MANAGER Timothy J. Raub REPORTER Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER Ron and Charlotte Bartizek PUBLISHERS EMERITUS [i] Stephen Peterson Ir PRESIDENT & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER 1-800-427-8649 Snow cover. Photo by Jim Phillips. I i IS Are hunters the terrorists of the animal world? Editor, Now that the “fever” of hunt- ing season has passed, 1 feel compelled to write this letter in response to an article that ap- peared in your newspaper dur- ing hunting season. The article pictured a local hunter with a “prized” female “cow” elk he killed during the first elk hunt- ing season in Pennsylvania in 70 years. Initially, let me say that I was truly saddened by our for- mer Governor's acquiescence in the expansion of the hunting seasons, elimination of the antler requirement, permitting of the first elk hunt in 70 years and reinstating of the ability to leg trap bobcats for the first time in three years. It seems Carol King Have you surfed the library website yet? The address is backmountainlibrary.org. You'll need the bar-code number on your library card to register. Did you know you can renew books on the library's website? Pick up a card at the library's front desk listing the steps to take. You can also renew books over the phone just by calling the library at 675-1182. Again, ONLY YESTERDAY 70 Years Ago - January 29, 1932 1,000 PERSONS ATTEND OPENING OF NEW BANK More than 925 persons at- tended the opening and inspec- tion of the new First National Bank building. The administra- tive heads are: T.H. Moyer, president and H.G. Buel; vice president. Tilghman Moyer of Al- lentown, was the architect and building contractor. Some of the items you could purchase at the American Stores Co. were: flour, 24-1b. bag 54¢; lard, 1 1b., 7¢; peaches, can 15¢; beans can, 10¢; preserves 2 Ib. jar, 29¢; chili sauce bot., 19¢; clorox, pt. bot. 17¢. Fire of an undetermined origin completely destroyed the home that all creatures great and small were targeted for death, and the beneficiaries seem to be the car insurance industry rather than local hunters. In any event, the article con- cerning the cow elk was ex- tremely disturbing. It was ap- parent the hunter identified the elk as a cow elk by the presence of one of its young. I can’t imag- ine a more traumatic act for that young animal than to see its mother killed before its eyes. In that terrorists deal out death to innocent lives without warning, could it be hunters are the ter- rorists of the animal world? I have heard the various ar- guments in favor of hunting which center around two prineci- ples, the first being that, “It has been done for years.” This first argument is completely invalid and could also be used as an ar- gument in favor of human sacri- fice, since many cultures did that for thousands of years. The second argument is the herds need to be thinned since there is a lack of predators. I personally would favor the rein- troduction of predators, since to allow humans to fulfill that role lowers humans to the animal level. More importantly, and as eloquently stated by Mohandas K. Gandhi, “...man’s supremacy over the lower animals means not that the former should prey upon the latter, but that the higher should protect the lower, and that there should be mutual aid between the two as between man and man.” Lastly, I “sport” involved in this action. In the article about the cow elk, it was clear the hunter was us- ing a high-powered rifle, which could kill at great distances and was equipped with a scope. In addition, the hunter had em- ployed the services of a profes- sional guide. Is this an equal contest? What chance does the animal have except to avoid der" tection? Where is the sport in this action? If violence and the taking of life are to be eliminated in the human world, it must begin with respect for all forms of life. i ti Garry S. Taroli Dallas Check out features on library website have your card handy. Slightly Used Bookstore: Fred Krohle, manager of the book- store, is continuing the biogra- phy = special: buy two biogra- phies, at $2 each, and get a third one free. Also, a volunteer at the store has waxed rhapsod- ic at the supply of wonderful cookbooks currently for sale. Fred issues a plea for volun- teers to work in the store. As few as two hours a week will be helpful, and there is great flexi- bility in choosing the hours best for you. Come help keep this great operation going! Call the library and leave your name and number, and Fred will call you back. Book discussion group: The Monday evening group tried a new tack at their January meet- and general store of Asa A. Prutzman of Chase at an early hour. The Prutzman family were barely able to get out before flames were eating through the dwelling. It's believed that the fire started from a defective fur- nace in the cellar of the Prutz- man home and spread to the ad- joining store. 60 Years Ago - January 30, 1942 HIGH SCHOOL WILL BE DRAFT REGISTRATION PLACE For the convenience of men of the Back Mountain Region who will have to register with Draft Board No. with headquarters at Wyoming, has arranged to have Dallas Borough High School as one of the places of registration. Four Dallas High School boys offered their blood after hearing a call for volunteers to donate blood to save the life of a young woman. The names are: ' Clayton Cairl, Robert Brown,. Carl Roberts and John Joseph. Final returns for the Red Cross Campaign in Dallas Bor- ough and Township show total contributions of $824.98 of which $407.48 was raised by ing. The theme was biographies — each member chose a differ- ent book to review. Pam Oliveira reported that the books enthusi- astically shared were “Falling Leaves,” by Adeline Yen Mah; “Blackbird and Still Waters,” by Jennifer Lauck; “Blonde,” by Joyce Carol Oates; and “The Di- ary of Ellen Rimbauer,” edited by Joyce Reardon. Those less fa- vorably reviewed were “Memoirs of an Unfit Mother,” by Anne Robinson; and “Ice Bound,” by Dr. Jerri Nielsen. Pam felt that the theme meeting went very well as the group was exposed to many different books at once. The next meeting is on Mon- day, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at Stax. . The group will be discussing “A Heart of Stone,” by Renate Dor- restein. Everyone is welcome. workers in the Borough under the leadership of Mrs. Machell Hildebrant, and $417, Dallas Township workers under the di- rection of Mrs. Floyd Chamber- lain. 50 Years Ago - February 1, 1952 FIREMEN ELECT DANIEL RICHARDS PRESIDENT Daniel C. Richards, Dallas Township school director, was elected president at the largely attended annual meeting of Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Company. He succeeded Harry 1. Ohlman, Irem Potentate, who served as president for eleven years. L. W. LeGrand, Sr., Dallas, and Jasper B. Carr, Trucksville, president of the Carr-Consoli- dated Biscuit Co., were named to the Center YMCA Board of Di- rectors. Mr. LeGrand is a mem- ber of Dallas Borough's School Board. Pfc. Ignatiou Gavek Jr., is serving with the 7th Infantry Di- vision on the Korean front. Gavek, serving as a mechanic in Headquarters, lst Battalion of the 17th Regiment. He was for- merly employed as a mechanic For more information, call Pam Tudor TLC Book Club: In keeping with the month of St. Patrick, the club's next meeting will feature the Irish author Lisa Carey, who will discuss her Irish tale, “Mermaids Singing.” The program takes place on Monday, March 4, at 7 p.m. at Wyoming Seminary's Buckingham Per- forming Arts Center, Sprague Ave. in Kingston. Everyone is welcome, and no reservations are necessary. On the afternoon of March 4, there will be a student work- shop with the author at Tudor. Call the shop at 288-9697 for time and other details. Tudor will be selling “Mermaid Singing” at 20 percent off. by Dan Meeker of Kunkle. 40 Years Ago - February 1, 1962 DAVID SCHOOLEY MADE PRESIDENT OF THE LIBRARY David Schooled, Trucksville, was elected president of Back Mountain Memorial Library As- sociation at its annual meeting in the Library Annex. He suc- ceeds Robert Bachman who has been president for the past two years. Fire of an undetermined origin destroyed a garage and toolshed on the William Naugle Sr., prop- erty at Pike's Creek. Mr. Naugle, was a Lehman Township School director for more than 20 years. The loss included the garage and a quantity of tools and equip- ment used by Mr. Naugle for his trucks and machines. Thomas P. Garrity, lifelong resident of Harvey's Lake, was installed as president of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Real Es- tate Board. Mr. Garrity has a real estate and insurance busi- ness at Harvey's Lake. Continued on page 7 | ¢ fail to see the EEL Sh. i»
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers